Stop motion for textile machines



May 28,1957

s. J. ADAMS 2,793,490

STOP MOTION FOR TEXTILE lUIl'LCI-IINESV Filed June 25, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l IIINW H TTdR/VE Y May 28, 1957 s. J. ADAMS 2,793,490

STOP MOTION FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed June 2s, 195s 2 sheets-sheet 2 a @9v/mmf' TTORNEY United States Patent O STOP MOTIQN FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Simpson J. Adams, Taylorsville, N. C.

Application June 23, 1953, Serial No. 363,517

2 Claims. (Cl. 57-81) The present application is concerned with an improved form of drop wire for use in a stop motion, and in arrangements for mounting the drop Wire.

This application is, in part, a continuation of my co pending application Serial No. 95,231, filed May 25, 1949, now Patent No. 2,658,326.

An object of the invention is to devise an improved form of drop wire having a circular eye for receiving the strand and operating to beat down the long fibers at a point Where the strand is being twisted.

Still another object is to devise an improved form of drop wire of adjustable length and having a replaceable eye.

A further object of the invention is to devise an improved larrangement for mounting the drop wires of the stop motion on the textile machine.

A further object of the invention is to devise an improved drop wire arrangement in which the drop Wires engage the textile strands in a position normally inclined to the vertical and operate to close the stop circuit when moved to a substantially vertical position.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a trip bar for simultaneously raising the inclined drop wires out of contact with the strands when the machine is to be doifed. p

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which: p

Figure 1 is` a diagrammatic view` showing a fragmentary part of a roving machine in front elevation;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of Figure 1 taken along the line 2 2 and showing two llyers and associated bobbins;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the trim or edge strip showing the notches formed therein for receiving the drop wires;

' Figure 4`is an enlarged sectional View taken in a vertical plane through one of the drop wires and its mounting arrangement; p

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of a modified switch arrangement controlled by the builder motion;

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic View similar to Figure kl of a fragmentary part of a roving machine in front elevation and showing a different arrangement for mounting Ithe drop wires;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6v showing still another arrangement for mounting the drop wires, and also showing a trip bar for simultaneously raising all of the drop wires; and

Figure 8 is a sectional view of Figure 7 taken along the line 8 8.

Referring to the drawing, power driven draft rolls of .ICC

the roving machine are indicated at 1, and the cooperating top rolls, which are usually covered with cord or leather, are shown at 2. The draft rolls are journaled upon suitable brackets 3 mounted upon the machine frame 4. As shown in Figure l, the draft rolls 1 and 2 comprise a series of longitudinal sections engaging each other, and a strand or sliver is fed to the back pair of rolls of each section by means of a guiding trumpet 5. The sliver is passed successively between the second and third pair `of draft rolls and extends to rotating flyers arranged in front of the roving machine. In Figure 2, the roving or strand 6a extends to the iiycr 7a in the back row of ilyers, while the roving 6b extends to a yer 7b located in the front row of flyers. Alternate rovings, therefore, are associated with the flyers in alternate rows. The two flyers 7a and 7b wind the roving on bobbins 7c and 7d, respectively. These bobbins are carried by a vertically movable carriage 8, and the spindles 7e and 7f of flyers 7a and 7b extend downwardly through the carriage 8 to suitable driving means not shown. A conventional builder motion is employed to reciprocate the carriage 8 vertically through a constantly decreasing throw `as the yarn builds up on the bobbins, thus forming the cone-shaped ends at the top and the bottom of each bobbin as shown in Figure 2.

Each roving is provided with a pivotally mounted drop A wire having a circular eye through which the roving passes. In the preferred arrangement illustrated in Figures l to 4, each drop wire is adjustable in length and is formed of two telescoping parts, that is, a sleeve 9, pivotally supported at its lower end, forms the lower part of the drop wire, while a length of wire 10 having a round eye 10a at its upper end, and having its lower end extending into and being frictionally supported by the sleeve 9, constitutes the upper section of the drop wire. The sleeve 9 is preferably formed olf thin metal, and the necessary frictional contact between the sleeve and the wire 10 may be secured by forming a number of dents 9a at spaced points along the sleeve 9.

The `arrangement for pivotally supporting the lower end of the drop wire is illustrated in detail in Figure 4. As shown, the lower end of the sleeve 9 is mounted in a radial socket formed in a bearing sleeve 11 which is journaled upon a screw 12 which is centrally mounted within a hole formed in a vertical wall 4a of the machine frame by means of a pair of flanged bushings 13 i 12. The drop wires are pivotally supported on the vertical wall 4a below the usual edge or trim plate 16, and each drop wire extends vertically upward through a notch 16a formed in the trim plate. By the arrangement shown, the drop wires are supported on the wall 4a in insulated relation, and all of the drop Wires are connected together by a conductor 17 which may be clamped between the lock nuts 15. The `arrangement is such that so long as all of the drop wires remain in a vertical position, the conductor 17 is insulated from the frame of .the machine, but if any drop wire tilts in either direction beyond a certain amount, the sleeve 9 comes into contact with one of the edges of the notch 16a and grounds the conductor 17 to the machine frame. The conductor 17 is connected in the energizing circuit of a stop relay or other device which operates to stop the machine when contact is made by any drop wire with the trim plate 16.

For the purpose of preventing operation. of the stopping circuit during the reversal of the bobbin carriage, the stop circuit is completed through a special electric controller or switch whichis controlled by the builder motion and operates automatically to open the stopping circuit just before the bobbin carriage reverses its direction of motion, and the controller maintains the stopping circuit open until the direction of motion of the carriage has been reversed. One suitable form of controller is illustrated in Figure 2 in which the essential parts of the builder motion are illustrated diagrammatically. In this arrangement, the builder motion includes a bracket 18 which is mounted upon and movable with the bobbin carriage 8. A shaft 19 is journaled in the parallel arms 18a and 13b of the bracket 18 and supports the upper and lower jaws 20 and 21 of the builder motion, one of these jaws being connected to the shaft 19 by a righthand thread, and the other by a left-hand thread, so that rotation of the shaft 19 in one direction will cause the jaws to approach each other, and rotation in the opposite direction will cause the jaws to separate. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the jaws 20 and 21 serve to release the tumbler shaft (not shown) when the dog on the tumbler shaft rides off of the jaws on the upward and downward strokes of movement of the bobbin carriage 8. Each step of rotation of the tumbler shaft effects reversal of movement of the carriage 8 and also effects a limited rotation of the shaft 19 to move the jaws 20 and 21 closer together, and thereby eifects earlier reversal of the movement of the bobbin carriage 8 on each traverse movement of the carriage.

The special controller shown in Figure 2 involves a contact plate 22 mounted upon and movable with jaw 20 and a second contact plate 23 arranged parallel with contact plate 22 and being mounted upon and movable with jaw 21. A springlike contact finger 24 is supported upon a xed arm 25 and extends transversely across contact plates 22 and 23. The arm 25 is either formed of insulating material, or else the contact finger 24 is mounted upon the `arm by an insulating connection. The arrangement is such that as the carriage 8 moves up and down, the contact linger 24 will maintain contact with either plate 22 or plate 23 until these plates move out from under the finger 24 in either direction of movement of the carriage 8. The plates 22 and 23 may have electrical contact with the jaws 20 and 21, or they may be supported upon these jaws in insulated relation. In the arrangement shown in Figure 2, the plates 22 and 23 are electrically connected to the jaws 20 and 21. The contact plates 22 and 23 are of such length that they overlap each other at all times, and the outer ends of these plates are positioned so that the spring contact arm 24 will ride oit of the outer ends of the two plates just prior to disengagement of the dog of the builder motion with one of the jaws 20 or 21, and contact remains broken between the arm 24 and one of the plates 22 or 23 until after the carriage 8 has been reversed in direction of movement.

The stopping circuit shown in Figure 2 is connected between the conductor 17 joining the drop wires and the contact finger 24 of the builder motion controller. The circuit includes a manually operable cut-ott switch 26, a source of operating current represented by the step-down transformer 27 which is connected to a suitable source of alternating current, and a suitable stopping relay or magnet 28. The magnet 28 controls any known form of device which operates to stop the machine when the magnet is energized.

Operation of the arrangement shown in Figures l to 4 is as follows: Under normal operating conditions, the switch 26 is closed, and so long as all of the drop wires remain in vertical position, the stop circuit is openecircuited and the machine continues to operate without interruption. In case one or more roving strands should break or become unduly slack, one of the drop wires will tilt about its pivotal support and will make contact withthe edge of one of the slots 16a, thereby yclosing the stop cincuit through the frame of the machine and energizing the stop magnet 28 to stop the machine.r

The return path for the stop circuit is completed through the frame of the machine and through the builder motion to the contact plates 22 and 23, and from these plates through the finger 24, and through connection 28a to the magnet 28.

If one of the drop wires should make contact with the edge plate 16 at a time when the contact iinger 24 has broken contact with the plates 22 and 23, the machine will continue operation until the direction of motion of the bobbin carriage 8 has been reversed, and the stop circuit will not be energized until the contact linger 24 reestablishes contact with one of the plates 22 or 23.

In Figure 5 I have shown a side elevational view of a modified form of builder motion controller which may be used instead of the arrangement shown in Figure 2. In this arrangement, the arm 25 supports on its upper end a bracket 29 which has a rearwardly extending arm 29a providing a pivotal support for a lever 30. A contact roller 31 is carried at the lower end of the lever 30 and is positioned to bridge the Contact plates 22 and 23. A spring 32 connected between the bracket 29 and the upper end of the arm 30 urges the contact roller 31 into engagement with the plates 22 and 23, and an adjustable stop screw 33 is mounted on the bracket 29 and arranged to limit the amount of movement of the lever 30 when the roller 31 rides off of the outer ends of the plates 22 or 23. If the lever 30 and the roller 31 are formed of conducting material, these elements will serve the same function as contact linger 24 in Figure 2 by providing the connection 28a from the lever 30 to the magnet 28. Instead of having the lever 30 operate as an electrical switch element, this lever may serve to operate a separate switch 34, such as a microswitch, mounted upon the arm 25 in a position so that the lever 30 engages the operating plunger of the switch and normally holds the switch in open position when the roller 31 is riding upon either plate 22 or 23, but the switch moves to closed position when the roller 31 rides oif of the end of either plate. In this case, one terminal of the switch 34 would be grounded to the frame of the machine and the other terminal would be connected to the magnet 28 through conductor 28a.

In Figure 6 I have illustrated a somewhat dilerent arrangement for mounting the drop wires of the stop motion. Instead of supporting the drop wires below the strands or roving as in Figure l, the drop wires are pivotally supported above the roving and are normally arranged in an inclined position. For this purpose, a bar 35 formed of insulating material is supported above the roving and parallel with the draft rolls by suitable brackets 36 secured to the frame 4 and spaced along the bar 35. The drop wires employed in Figure 6 are of the same construction as shown in Figures 1 to 4, but the pivoted ends are supported on the bar 35 in horizontally offset relation with respect to the vertical plane of the roving passing through the round eye of each drop wire. As in Figure l, the pivoted drop wires are connected together by conductor 17. Each drop wire is provided with a contact pin 37 supported upon the bar 3S directly below the pivotal axis of the drop wire and extending in front of the bar 35 into the plane of movement of the drop wire. All of the pins 37 are connected together by a conductor 17a which may be grounded to the frame of the machine if desired. It will be understood that the conductors 17 and 17a are connected in the stopping circuit so that the circuit will be energized when these two conductors are connected together by engagement of one of the stop wires with one of the pins 37.

In the normal operation of the arrangement shown in Figure 6, the roving from the draft rolls passes through the eyes of the drop wires and maintains the drop wires in an inclined position as shown in the drawing so that the drop wires do not engage the pins 37. If a roving should break or should become unduly slack, the drop wire will swing downwardly towards the vertical posi- '5 tion andwill come in `contactwith one .of the:pins 37 and thereby complete the `stop circuit and effect stopping of the machine. i

In Figures 7 and 8 I have illustrated still another variation in the arrangement for mounting the drop wires. In this arrangement, the drop wires are pivtally supported above the roving upon an insulating bar V3S in generally the same manner as in Figure 6. The bar 35 may be mounted upon fixed brackets -as in Figure 6, but in this arrangement I prefer to mount the bar on the forward edge of the draft roll cover 38 which is pivotally mounted at its rear edge as represented at 39. i By mountingthe drop wires in this manner, all of the drop wires are raised and moved out of the way when the roll cover 38 is raised for inspection of the rolls or for the cleaning of the roll clearers carried by the cover.

The drop wires in Figures 7 and 8 also vary somewhat from the arrangement shown in Figure 6 in that the wires are not adjustable in length but the wire is secured directly to the bearing sleeve 11. Also, instead of being provided with round eyes at the ends of the drop wires, the wires merely rest upon the roving in an inclined position as shown in Figure 7, and in order to prevent damage to the operators hand by the sharp ends of the drop wires, the ends of the wires may be turned back as shown at 10b. Each drop wire is provided with a contact pin 37 as in Figure 6, and the operation of the arrangement shown in Figures 7 and 8 will be readily understood from the above description of operation of Figure 6.

In the arrangement shown in Figures 7 and 8, operation of the machine will be facilitated, especially when the roving machine is to be doffed, if all of the drop wires can be raised out of contact with the strands simultaneously. For this purpose, I have provided a rod 40 arranged below the lower edge of bar 35 and extending throughout the length of this bar. The rod 40 is preferably of square section and is mounted for sliding movement along the bar 35 by means of suitable straps 41 secured to the bar 35. One or both ends of the rod are bent to provide a handle portion 40a for use in sliding the rod. A plurality of pins 42 are supported upon the rod 40 along its length and extend forwardly of the rod through the plane of movement of the drop wires 10, there being one pin 42 for each drop wire. During normal operation of the machine, the rod 40 is positioned as shown in Figure 7 so that the pins 42 are positioned below the drop wires 10 but do not engage the drop wires. By shifting the rod 40 to the left, the pins 42 simultaneously engage all of the drop wires and cause them to rotate clockwise through a limited angular movement and thereby raise the wires from contact with the strands.

` As soon as the operator has finished doiiing the machine,

he shifts the rod 40 to the right, thereby allowing the drop wires to resume their normal operating position in contact with the roving.

The inclined drop wire arrangements shown in Figures 6 and 7 involve the use of only one cooperating contact for each drop wire, and by mounting the drop wires in an inclined position, the amount of weight applied to the roving is considerably reduced. For example, the weight applied to the roving is considerably less than one-half the weight of the drop wire, exclusive of the weight of the bearing sleeve 11.

By forming the drop wires to be adjustable in length, as shown in Figure 4, the same drop wire may be used for both the front and back rows of yers, it being neces sary only to adjust the length of the wire to place the eye in the proper position for either row. Also, the adjustability of the drop wire makes it possible readily to adapt the drop wire to different mounting arrangements on ma chines of diiferent manufacture. A further advantage of this arrangement is that in case the eye or the outer end of the drop wire should become damaged, it can be quickly replaced by pulling out the damaged part and inserting a new one. This change can be made by the 6 operator of1 the machine and does not require the services of an electrician.` i

The use of a drop wire having a round eye through which the roving passes has `a distinct advantage in connection with the `working of roving having long iibers. For example, heretofore it has not been possible to successfully work roving having more than 50% acetate fibers, because the long` acetate Iibers in the roving caused an uneven yarn in the spinning operation, and other difficulties arose. I have discovered that it is possible to work acetate roving if the roving is passed through a round eye as it passes from the draft rolls to the flyers, the eyelets being positioned so that the roving passes through the eyelet in a straight line. The explanation for the successful operation is that as the roving passes through the eyelet, it is being twisted by the lyer with the result that in addition to having longitudinal and twisting motion, the roving also rotates around the insidle of the eyelet. For example, as shown in Figure 5, the eyelet is of relatively large diameter with respect to the diameter of the roving 6, and as the roving passes through the eyelet, it also revolves around the inside of the eyelet, for example, in the direction shown by the arrow. The rotation of the roving around the inside of the eyelet while the roving is being simultaneously twisted causes the long fibers to be knocked down and twisted into the roving, thereby resulting in a rounder roving which in turn spins a smoother yarn than yarns produce-d without the knocking down operation. It will be obvious that the eyelet need not be formed as a part of the drop wire in order to obtain this advantage of my invention, but the same advantage may be obtained by an independent eyelet supported in the proper position for securing rotary motion of the roving around the inside of the eyelet. For this result, it is necessary that the eyelet should be positioned at a point where the roving is being twisted and that the roving should pass through the eyelet in substantially a straight line.

It is not necessary to construct the drop-wire to be adjustable in length. The tube 9 may be omitted and the wire 10 may be anchored directly in the bearing sleeve 11, and this arrangement is preferred in the case of roving of small size or weight in order to reduce the weight of the dropwire.

The inside diameter of the eyelet on the drop-wire is not especially critical, but for best results it has been found that the size of the eyelet will vary with the weight of the roving. From practical experience it has been found that only two sizes of eyelet are required to cover the range of roving weights from 1A hank to 5 hanks. For example, an eyelet having an inside diameter of substantially 1%2 of an inch (0.406) will provide satisfactory operation for rovings varying in weight from la hank to 11/2 hank, and a smaller eyelet having an inside diameter of approximately 2%.; of an inch. (0328") may be used for rovings having weights ranging from 11/2 hanks to 5 hanks. Roughly, the inside diameter of the eye will fall between 1A and l/z inch. The size of the supporting wire also is not especially critical but it should be as small as possible consistent with the requirement for adequate strength to prevent accidental bending by the operator of the machine. From practical experience I have found that three different sizes of wire may be used to cover the range of roving weights indicated above. The largest wire of 0.063 inch diameter may be used for rovings ranging from 1A to 1 hank, and a wire of 0.46 inch diameter for rovings ranging from 1 to 2V. hanks, while a wire of 0.029 inch diameter may be used for rovings ranging from 21/2 to 5 hanks. The rate of rotation of the roving around the inside of the eyelet will `depend upon the amount of twist being applied to the roving and, on the average, the roving will rotate about one revolution per inch of linear travel of the roving.

I claim:

1. A drop wire for a textile machine comprising a bearing sleeve, a tubular socket mounted upon said sleeve and extending radially therefrom, a length of wire having one end thereof positioned within said socket, and a round Yeye formed at the other end of said wire.

2. A `drop-wire according to claim 1 wherein said tubular socket comprises a thin-walled metal sleeve having a dent formed in the wall thereof near its outer end to frictionally hold said wire within said socket, whereby the length of said drop-wire may be varied by moving said wire axially withinsaid socket.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Chapin Jan. 7, 1879 Roberts Dec. 25, '1923 Brace et al Jan. 29, 1924 Scott Aug. 1, 1933 Howe June 26, 1934 Adams et al Sept. 13, 1938 Melin et al Oct. 2, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain s July 9, 1912 Great Britain Mar. 14, 1938 

